


In the Dark

by Highlander_II



Category: American Gothic
Genre: Other, Yuletide 2011
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-22
Updated: 2011-12-22
Packaged: 2017-10-27 19:27:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/299240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Highlander_II/pseuds/Highlander_II
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Against her better judgment, Gail takes shelter from the rain at Buck's place.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In the Dark

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mravensblood](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mravensblood/gifts).



Thunder rattled the windows in the old house. The sound was eerie and familiar at the same time. It reminded her of the old house she lived in with her parents. And, it reminded her that she was in a big, old house belonging to the town sheriff. However, she _was_ kicking herself for not getting the alternator in her car checked when she first suspected it was going bad. Had she done that, she wouldn't be standing in the dark, wrapped in a towel, in Buck's large, drafty house.

Of course, she had rolled to a stop in front of Buck's place. Where else in Trinity would her coughing, spluttering, clunking car come to a halt? Very little in this town happened that didn't involve the good sheriff.

As close as she was to shelter - shelter being the veranda of Buck's place - she was still drenched by the time she reached the door. If she had been able to find her umbrella, she would have walked to the mechanic to get help. But, her umbrella was nowhere to be seen in the floorboard of her car, so she'd braved the elements and ended up soaked all the way to her undergarments.

She was almost convinced Buck had orchestrated the whole thing. Except he had looked genuinely surprised at her appearance at his door. If not for his concern about her catching pneumonia or worse, she would have walked right back out to her car to wait out the storm.

As it was, she was dripping water in his entryway and shivering. The sundress she wore was better suited to the hot sun from earlier in the afternoon than to the raging storm happening outside now. She didn't want to be in Buck's house, but she could appreciate the walls and roof for the protection from the elements they provided.

A hand on her shoulder startled her. Even after she realized it was Buck entering the hallway from the stairs.

"Easy there. Just bringing you a blanket." He held up a faded woolen blanket to her. "It'll keep you warm while your clothes dry by the fire."

Had he really just suggested she strip and sit by the fire? Gail sighed softly. "What fire?"

Buck smiled at her. "I was going to build one." He waved toward the sitting room. "I was about to light it when you knocked."

She entered the cozy-looking sitting room, still shivering. The couch and chairs looked inviting, but she didn't want to get them wet. Looking around, she saw there were logs in the fireplace, surrounded by kindling and newspaper and a box of matches nearby on the hearth. Maybe he had been building a fire. Or, maybe he was just Buck and these objects did his bidding. Even she didn't believe that to be possible.

Though, as it was, so many things seemed to go his way, she didn't think Buck had any sort of special powers. It was only in books and Hollywood that people had 'powers' and supernatural abilities. Right?

Maybe it shouldn't have, but it surprised her how gentlemanly he was while she was stripping out of her dress and wrapping herself in the blanket. She sat on the hearth and waited for him to come back.

The fire was crackling and warm. The chill was just starting to lift. She was almost getting comfortable when he stepped into the sitting room with a large pair of white cotton socks.

"They may not fit, but they'll be warm," he told her.

"Thanks." She watched him kneel by the fire again while she worked to slip the socks onto her feet and keep the blanket tucked around herself at the same time. It was quickly several degrees warmer with her feet covered. That warm feeling of comfort settled in again.

"Why are you really here, Miss Em'ry?" he asked her.

She blinked at him, fingers gripping the blanket tighter as that 'comfort' began to slip away. "My car broke down," she told him flatly. Did he think she had made her car break down in front of his place on purpose?

He stirred the fire to get it going well. "You sure it was just a coincidence?"

Gail glared at him. "Now what reason would I have to orchestrate breaking down in front of your house?"

"Well, I don't know, Miss Em'ry." He poked a log with the fireplace poker, kneeling there by the hearth. He turned to face her, firelight casting half his face into shadow. "Maybe you were lookin' for something."

"What could I possibly be looking for at your house?" What was he getting at?

The look he gave her made her pull the blanket tighter around herself. She wasn't colder. Just uncomfortable. What was he implying? That she had come here to sleep with him? That was not at all what was on her mind.

The firelight danced eerily over one side of his face. It glinted off his teeth when he smiled. She almost leapt off the hearth to find someplace with more light to get away from him.

"Miss Em'ry, now, do you really think I would do something you didn't want me to do?" he asked her.

She nodded. "I think you might."

"Well, I might, but I wouldn't do anything _to you_ that you didn't want."

She hadn't missed his subtle distinction and she was certain he was choosing his words very carefully. Twisting things just enough to sound reasonable before turning the whole conversation on her. He was like a hunter with a clever trap.

The bastard.

Angry, she rose from the hearth and snatched up her dress on her way out of the room. "If you think I came here as some subconscious show of attraction to you..."

The lights went out.

Gail froze where she was in the room. It wasn't fully dark, but Buck's body blocked the light of the fire when he stood. The room was still quite dark.

"Going somewhere, Miss Em'ry?" Buck asked, his voice dark like the room, but not sinister.

She took a deep breath and pulled the blanket back up over her shoulders. "Home."

"You plannin' to walk?"

"If I have to," she told him defiantly.

"That'd be a bad idea. Power's out all 'round the city. Might be trees and power lines down along the way."

"I'll take my chances." She stepped into the hallway and dropped the blanket.

His strong fingers curled gently around her wrist. He drew her against his chest. Her body shivered. She curled both hands into fists, ready to fight him if it came to that.

"Let me go," she growled.

"Stay. Warm up by the fire." His voice was softer this time. Almost inviting.

She'd been here before, caught in some almost-trance with Buck. Pressed against him. Only the last time, he was naked. She may not have been naked, but she definitely felt exposed.

He was holding her wrist tightly, but not hurting her. His other hand rested against the small of her back, almost as though he planned to dance. She wasn't sure what to do with this information, other than to stare pointedly at the middle of his chest, just at that point where the two sides of his vest met. As long as she didn't look directly into his eyes, she thought, she wouldn't get entangled in his web.

The man may not have supernatural abilities like comic book characters, but he certainly had a way of influencing things. People, situations, the universe, they all seemed to bend to his will exactly when he wanted. She had felt it herself.

She was feeling it now. Surprised she was recognizing it, but she felt it. She knew he was going to do it before he did it and she let him in anyway. His lips against hers. His breath on her cheek.

She should have stopped him. She should have pulled away. She couldn't. Damn him.

It didn't last long, the kiss, but it was warm and slow and soft and she could use a hundred other words to describe it and never come close to getting it all. And when it ended and he drew away and released her wrist, she was sure she would float away. How did he do that every time?

She took a deep breath to steady herself and touched her tongue to her lips. The taste was - different. Then gone.

Buck tucked the blanket around her shoulders, shaking her back into reality. "I'm going to heat up water for coffee if you'd like some," he told her as he slipped into the darkness of the hallway.

She didn't know if she wanted coffee, but she knew leaving right then wouldn't be smart. Her head was reeling a little faster than she liked.

He'd done it again and she still didn't know how.

Gail stepped back into the sitting room and folded herself into one of the plush chairs. She stared into the fire, hoping it held the answers.


End file.
